Pokémon in Turkey

Though the games and consoles themselves have been sold by private retailers previously, in 2004, Avaturk began distribution of Nintendo products in Turkey following a partnership deal made with Nortec Multimedia SA, the distributor of Nintendo products in some of the Balkan countries.^[1] In 2005, Avaturk was transformed into Nortec Eurasia.^[2] They released DS titles, includingPokémon Diamond and Pearl, which went on to become bestsellers in Turkey.^[3] After the bankruptcy of Nortec Eurasia in 2012,^[4] it was not possible to purchase physical games, aside from the unsold stocks. Yandex.Money from April 2017 began digital distribution of Nintendo Switch.^[5] In April 2018, CD Media became of the official distributor of Nintendo products (including Pokémon games) in Turkey.^[6]

As of January 2023,Pokémon GO andPokémon UNITE are the only Pokémon games that have been localized into Turkish,^[7]^[8] though Turkish language support in Pokémon UNITE was later removed as of December 4, 2025.^[9] The Turkish names of most Pokémon are the same as their English names, with the exception ofType: Null and theParadox Pokémon. For more information on these localized names for Pokémon, seeList of Turkish Pokémon names.

Pokémon animation

ThePokémon animated series was first aired in Turkey on January 31, 2000 on ATV.^[10]

The animated series continued to air regularly until theCharizard Sakinleşiyor. After the episode, previous episodes have been reran for several times.^[11]

After Radio and Television Supreme Council of Turkey (RTÜK) ordered a ban on the animated series, show's popularity had begun to dwindle. Pokémon had been relaunched on December 9, 2002 by Star TV. The first few seasons were aired from that date until May 2004, when episodes followingCharizard Sakinleşiyor started to air. In June 2005, RTÜK forced Star TV to stop airing Pokémon. The magazine of Presidency of Religious Affairs, Diyanet, has reiterated similar claims by RTÜK on March 2, 2005 (shortly before they shut down the production).^[12] After this, Kanal 1 and Kanal 7 began to broadcast the first episodes of Pokémon for a while.Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire was never aired.Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl began airing in 2009 on Jetix Turkey shortly before it transformed into Disney XD (and eventually toDisney Channel Turkey).Pokémon the Series: Black & White began airing in 2011 on Disney XD. It was also streamed onAmazon Prime Video later on.

The animated series fully started re-airing on September 1, 2014, beginning with theseventeenth season. It carried on through the subsequent years, and on April 7, 2018, thetwentieth season was released onNetflix. Thetwenty-first season was released on April 1, 2019.Pokémon Journeys: The Series started to air on Netflix on July 1, 2021.

Controversy

In Turkey, there were two separate reports of kids falling out of windows while claiming to be Pokémon in late 2000. One of these was Ferhat Ağırbaş, a four-year-old child from Mersin on October 30.^[13] Another was Seyda Aykanat, a seven-year-old student from Kilis on November 25.^[14]

After these incidents, a report was published by the Health Ministry stating the animated series has negative effects on children. Due to these cases, RTÜK ordered a ban on the animated series.^[15] ATV stopped airing Pokémon on December 13, 2000.

Cast and crew

Ahmet Taşar has voiced the main characterAsh Ketchum from 2000 to 2016.Kerem Kobanbay has voicedAsh Ketchum from 2016 to 2018. Birtanem Coşkun Candaner provided the voice ofMisty while Tugay Erverdi has provided the voice ofBrock.Jessie was voiced by Figen Harman whileJames was voiced by Levent Sülün and then by Aydoğan Temel. Murat Keskinoğlu provided the voice ofMeowth.Officer Jenny was voiced by Mehpare Özlük, whileProfessor Oak was voiced by Tunç Ozdil.

Beginning withSun & Moon, James is voiced by Murat Sarı, Jessie by Müge Oruçkaptan, Meowth by Fatih Özkul, Kiawe by Mert Aydın, Sophocles by Gülnur Badakal, Lillie by Selay Taşdöğen, Lana by Zencan Saka, Professor Kukui by Ali Hocaoğlu, Nurse Joy by Bergen Coşkun, the Rotom Pokédex by Gökhan Şimşek, and the narrator by Savaş Özdural.

InPokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, Birtanem Candaner reprised her role as Misty, while Ash was voiced by Arda Oğul Meriçliler and Brock was voiced by Ilker Guler.

Pokémon movies

Most of thePokémon movies were translated and dubbed into Turkish as well. Only exceptions areeighth,ninth andtenth movies. The first movie,Mewtwo Strikes Back, was shown in theaters on June 9, 2000, and the second movie,The Power of One, was shown in theaters on January 19, 2001. They were also released on DVD and VCD.

The third movie,Spell of the Unown, was released on DVD and VCD in 2002.

Celebi: The Voice of the Forest,Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias,Jirachi: Wish Maker, andDestiny Deoxys were released on DVD and VCD in 2006.

Disney XD aired theeleventh andtwelfth films in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Zoroark: Master of Illusions,White—Victini and Zekrom andBlack—Victini and Reshiram andKyurem VS. The Sword of Justice were released on DVD in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively.

All of the movies starting fromsixteenth movie have been released on Netflix.

Mewtwo Returns was also released under the titlePokémon Özel Film: Mewtwo’nun Geri Dönüşü in 2001.^[16]

Music

Until thetwelfth season, the dub used the English version of the opening themes. However, since the twelfth season, dubbed opening themes have been used for the series.

The Turkish CD version ofPokémon Theme was sung byAhmet Taşar. Thefirst album was released in 2001. It was adapted bySibel Erülgen, engineered byFuat Güney, and produced by BMG MÜZİK A.Ş.Gülşen Karanlık andKerem Akaydın also provided vocals for a majority of the songs featured in the album.

External links

References

ThePokémon franchise around the world
Africa:	South Africa
The Americas:	Brazil •Canada •Latin America •United States
Asia:	Hong Kong •Indonesia •Japan •mainland China •Malaysia •Philippines Singapore •South Asia •South Korea •Thailand •Taiwan •Vietnam
Europe:	Albania •Belgium •Bulgaria •Croatia •Czech Republic •Denmark •Finland •France •Germany •Greece Hungary •Iceland •Ireland •Italy •Latvia •Lithuania •Netherlands •North Macedonia •Norway •Poland Portugal •Romania •Russia •Serbia •Slovakia •Spain •Sweden •Ukraine •United Kingdom
Middle East:	Arab world •Israel •Turkey
Oceania:	Australia •New Zealand